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How FBI tracked down the celebrity Twitter hackers (They used their home IP and drivers license!)
Daily Mail ^ | August 2nd | ANDREW COURT

Posted on 08/02/2020 2:32:42 AM PDT by RandFan

The FBI were able to track down three hackers who pulled off the largest Twitter breach in history because they were 'extremely sloppy' with how they moved their Bitcoin transactions around.

Graham Ivan Clark, 17, of Tampa, Florida; Nima Fazeli, 22, of Orlando, Florida; and Mason Sheppard, 19, of Bognor Regis, U.K. have all be charged in relation to the hack, which took place on July 15.

On that date, the men conspired to hijack Twitter accounts belonging to famous figures and companies - including Barack Obama, Kanye West and Uber - before they posted tweets asking for donations to a Bitcoin wallet.

'I am giving back to my community due to Covid-19. All Bitcoin sent to my address below will be sent back double. If you send $1,000, I will send back $2,000,' the bogus tweets read.

Authorities say that the hackers netted more than $100,000 in Bitcoin through the illegal scheme.

But the youngsters were easily able to be traced when the FBI subsequently launched their investigation.

Authorities were able to obtain data about the Bitcoin addresses involved in the hack by analyzing blockchain - a ledger that records cryptocurrency transactions.

They then traced the addresses to Coinbase - a digital currency exchange that stores Bitcoin.

Both Fazeli and Sheppard had registered and verified their Coinbase accounts with their real driver's licences, according to ZNET.

Fazeli also used his home IP address, meaning investigators were able to easily trace his location.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: bigtech; bitcoin; bognorregis; coinbase; cryptocurrency; doj; fbi; florida; grahamivanclark; masonsheppard; nimafazeli; orlando; tampa; twitter; unitedkingdom; znet
How dumb are these kids!
1 posted on 08/02/2020 2:32:42 AM PDT by RandFan
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To: RandFan

As dumb at that mafioso guy last year who had his father killed and texted the Hitman before during and after

Using the bloods to do the hit was probably dumber than anything I’ve ever heard


2 posted on 08/02/2020 2:35:55 AM PDT by dp0622 (Patriots: Better stand tall when they're calling you out. Don't bend, don't break, don't back down.)
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To: RandFan

But they’re STILL looking for the guy who killed Seth Rich!

And don’t know where HilLIARy’s 30,000 emails are

And have NO IDEA how all those guns got to Mexico

And...

And...


3 posted on 08/02/2020 2:36:53 AM PDT by Oscar in Batangas ( January 20, 2017, High Noon. The end of an error.)
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To: RandFan

Must be Script Kiddies if they are hacking Uber but using their own IP address.

Anyone with even a little internet savvy knows how to track an IP address and how to mask it.


4 posted on 08/02/2020 2:42:50 AM PDT by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirs)
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To: Pontiac

Apparently they used some phishing script on a smartphone to trick the employee(s) into giving them credentials.

More details here:

https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-the-fbi-tracked-down-the-twitter-hackers/


5 posted on 08/02/2020 2:56:53 AM PDT by RandFan (3C)
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To: RandFan

Ok great now do Hillary, Comey and the like.


6 posted on 08/02/2020 3:14:08 AM PDT by toddausauras (How far will the left go in terms of destroying our personal freedoms?)
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To: RandFan

These guys were secret Russian spies trained for years at a Potemkin Village deep in the heart of Siberia.

Everybody knows that!


7 posted on 08/02/2020 3:25:20 AM PDT by cgbg (Masters don't want slaves talking about masters and slaves.)
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To: RandFan

“youngsters”, “kids”

No, they are adults, probably mental midgets but they are adults.


8 posted on 08/02/2020 3:27:26 AM PDT by mad_as_he$$
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To: RandFan

22 and 19 are not kids. First, the writer calls them “men” and, later in the article they are “youngsters”. No matter, stupid and arrogant have no age limits.


9 posted on 08/02/2020 3:31:15 AM PDT by Russ (I)
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To: RandFan
If you send $1,000, I will send back $2,000,' the bogus tweets read.

Bogus? Nah, really?


10 posted on 08/02/2020 3:52:06 AM PDT by Right Wing Assault (Die-ggl,TWT,FCBK,NYT,WPo,Hwd,CNN,NFL,BLM,CAIR,Antf,SPLC,ESPN,NPR,NBA,ARP,MSNBC)
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To: Right Wing Assault

well they got $100k and another $250k was blocked so obviously people fell for it..

Amazing really.


11 posted on 08/02/2020 3:58:34 AM PDT by RandFan (3C)
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To: Lazamataz; Swordmaker

LOL! Ping.


12 posted on 08/02/2020 4:29:22 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: RandFan

“Apparently they used some phishing script...”

Some of those scripts are quite good. They’ll say something like “We’re EBAY and your account will be shutdown until you verify your data with us” and they’ll look real.

For me, the first thing I look for is whether they have some personal information in the E-Mail, such as my name, address, or part of my account number, or history, etc. If not, I’m done. If so, then I look closer at the links and try to figure out if they’re real or disguised. If the links look real, and if everything else looks real, then I consider logging into the site, but never through their link.

For me, and I suspect most people here, we run through some form of the above, maybe with some added checks that I missed - and the spear-phishers lose. But send it out to a million people in the general public and a whole lot of them will bite.

What gets me is how they got a number not just Twitter EMPLOYEES (mostly white, by the way), but ones with access to sensitive data, to bite. What kind of idiots does Twitter hire anyway?


13 posted on 08/02/2020 6:57:34 AM PDT by BobL (I shop at Walmart and eat at McDonald's, I just don't tell anyone, like most here)
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To: BobL

For me, the first thing I look for is whether they have some personal information in the E-Mail, such as my name, address, or part of my account number, or history, etc. If not, I’m done. If so, then I look closer at the links and try to figure out if they’re real or disguised. If the links look real, and if everything else looks real, then I consider logging into the site, but never through their link.

Some very wise advice Bob. Thanks for posting. I’ve seen phishing emails or increasingly websites posing as your ISP (Wow that’s clever!!) and yes they can look real and can easily dupe people.

Be on guard always!


14 posted on 08/02/2020 7:08:32 AM PDT by RandFan (3C)
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To: RandFan

Thou shalt not hack from thy own home


15 posted on 08/02/2020 8:10:37 AM PDT by DEPcom
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To: DEPcom

The feds will still find you eventually.

Remember the creator of the ‘Silk Road’ on the dark web. He was using the library and they got him in the end. He’s serving 30 years.


16 posted on 08/02/2020 8:15:06 AM PDT by RandFan (3C)
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To: RandFan

“Remember the creator of the ‘Silk Road’ on the dark web. He was using the library and they got him in the end”

Did not know that. He must have been using the same library to many times.

It would be hard to hide forever, you would have to hack from a different location (free hotspots) across multiply states.

Even then there a mess load of security steps that need to be taken to protect your identity. It can be done, but it would take a lot of self-discipline.

Once Kevin Mitnick was targeted for arrest, he only lasted two and half years on the run.


17 posted on 08/02/2020 9:19:15 AM PDT by DEPcom
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To: RandFan

I am giving back to my community (scam)
Democrats find new trainees’s for office.


18 posted on 08/02/2020 9:42:03 AM PDT by Vaduz (women and children to be impacIQ of chimpsted the most.)
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